Monday, September 10, 2012

What Went Wrong: I think we saw this game before. Oh yes, it was Friday when the Rockies also scored two runs early, stopped scoring, blew the 2-0 lead, and then lost 3-2 in the 9th to the Phillies. Mhm. Same script. Same result. Including two wins for Jonathan Papelbon. Bleh.

Turning Point: 9th inning with Philadelphia hitting. The Rockies had just elected to intentionally walk Chase Utley to put runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs. Acceptable strategy implemented there by Mr. Tracy to give his team more options to record the third out. Problem is, with Ryan Howard hitting, Wilin Rosario wiped that strategy out by committing yet another passed ball (I've lost count of the official number - it's too damn high). That put the winning runner (Nate Schierholtz, of course) at third. Howard is intentionally walked to load the bases to again give them more options defensively, but also zero margin for error.

Poor command and walks aside, Chatwood was pretty effective this afternoon. And that's pretty much him in a nutshell this season. He'll flash some promise but it's always marred by inconsistency and inability to throws strikes. He, like the other young Rockies starters, needs to clean that up before he can take the next step forward.

Tyler Chatwood's Batting Line: 2-for-2, RBI

Well, there's no doubt Chatwood had confidence at the plate today, raising his season average to .300 with these two hits. The RBI was the first of his career.Bullpen's Line: 3 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 1 K

Of course two of those walks were intentional in the 9th. Both were issued by Matt Belisle, who goes down as the tough luck loser here.

What Went Wrong: New script for Game 2. Somehow it was worse than the repeats from Friday night and Game 1, as the Rockies committed five errors in the sweep-clinching loss (Chris Nelson 2, Jonathan Herrera 2 and Jordan Pacheco) and this time blew a FOUR run lead, as opposed to two run leads.

Talk about raising the bar!

Oh, and Papelbon only got a save out of it.

Turning Point: Josh Roenicke took over in the 5th with a 4-1 lead and was on pace for a 1-2-3 inning when the wheels started falling off. Chris Nelson's first error on John Mayberry's groundball extended the inning. One batter later, Chase Utley drove a single to left field, which remarkably degenerated into a second and third situation after Jonathan Herrera's throwing error. And then with two runners now in scoring position, Ryan Howard predictably singled them home to make it 4-3.

The Phillies would add two more earned runs off Roenicke in the 6th, and then two more earned runs off Will Harris in the 7th. 4-1 lead and cruising... to a 7-4 deficit and losing. Rockies baseball at its finest.

More of the same from Pomeranz. His lines all look identical and his development under the paired pitching system is minimal, if it even registers at all.

Josh Roenicke's Line: 1.1 IP, 4 R (2ER), 5 H

Roenicke has gone over 82 innings out of the bullpen while the Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg was shutdown at just under 160. Think about that and just admire Roenicke for the workload he has taken on this season as a 'middle' receiver who then morphed into a 'hybrid' reliever.

What's Next: The Rockies head back home after this miserable 1-6 roadtrip and guess who will be waiting for them? Yup... the San Francisco Giants.

On the plus side, it's a chance to play spoiler and be almost relevant for three days in the National League West. On the down side, the Giants are motivated and the Rockies can't even handle them when they're not motivated, so this could prove to be an extension of the past week. Choose to view the glass as you prefer.